X-ray technology has a wide range of uses, including medical applications, x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis and other applications. XRF systems analyze materials based on the x-rays that they fluoresce when impacted by other x-rays. XRF systems often are used in scrap metal sorting systems, lead paint detection, hazardous waste site investigation, ore classification in mining, general industrial quality control, and other applications.
A typical XRF system operates as follows. An x-ray source, for example, an x-ray tube or a radioactive isotope, stimulates a material with impacting x-rays. The impact of these x-rays causes the material to fluoresce, and this x-ray induced fluorescence has an energy spectrum that is characteristic of the elemental composition of the material. Accordingly, this energy spectrum may be analyzed to determine one or more identifying characteristics of the material. For example, the material may be identified or classified based on its fluorescence energy spectrum, contaminants may be identified within the material, or the elemental composition of the material may be determined. A variety of XRF systems are in use, including handheld XRF instruments, bench-top systems, and conveyor belt systems in which materials are conveyed into an area in which the material is impacted with x-rays and the resulting fluorescence spectrum detected and analyzed.
XRF systems typically include an x-ray module containing an x-ray source to generate x-rays and a separately housed XRF analysis module to analyze the fluoresced x-rays. In some cases, the x-ray module and the XRF analysis module are not connected, and in some cases the separately housed units are connected by one or more wires. The x-ray module typically includes an x-ray source, an x-ray power supply, and analog control electronics consisting of one or more interconnected, discrete analog devices. The analog control electronics control the x-ray power supply, which supplies power to the x-ray source. In some x-ray modules, the analog control electronics are hardwired to detect voltages or currents associated with the x-ray power supply and to adjust the power supply in response to these voltages or currents. However, the analog control electronics of x-ray modules do not include any centralized processing unit and are not capable of being programmed with instructions (e.g. software).